Inaugural UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, and never enjoyed fan support equal to his skills. Negotiations with the UFC went public, with UFC president Dana White saying one option was dropping the division. In August of 2018, Johnson lost the title to Henry Cejudo, and in October he was traded to ONE Championship. There was excitement around Cejudo, who eventually moved up a division and then MMA retired, but the future of the division remained in doubt to varying degrees.

Late in 2018 Brandon Moreno was released by the UFC, as was Dustin Ortiz early in 2019. The UFC’s top 15 at flyweight had only twelve fighters. However, at UFC 256, new flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo retained his belt vs. Moreno with a Split Draw in a fight of the year contender. The division is back, and even has 15 fighters in the top 15.

At the UFC 256 post-fight press conference, White credited an unexpected figure with the resurgence of the division – matchmaker Mick Maynard.

I got to give it to Mick, said White. Mick went in and restructured and rebuilt that division and it’s one of the most exciting divisions in the UFC now. And tonight we put on a potential fight of the year and potential greatest fight ever in the division’s history. So, congrats to Mick.

Well, we all know no one cared about it. I sat up here at press conferences before the fight telling everyone why you needed to watch that division and why there were so many great fights, but people just didn’t a s***. You can’t make people care. They gotta care, or they don’t. Mick had some ideas, he wanted to go in and make some tweaks. And here we are today.

What do you think UG? Who do we owe for the current strength of the UFC’s 125 division?

h/t Ryan Harkness for MMA Mania